


Cider

by im_the_king_of_the_ocean



Series: Into the Pieces-Verse [4]
Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Autumn, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Pregnancy, but it'll probably make more sense if you know what's going on there, it can be read without reading that fic, this takes place within the same timeline as my fic pieces
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-12 16:04:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21479092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/im_the_king_of_the_ocean/pseuds/im_the_king_of_the_ocean
Summary: Glimpses into Barbara and Blinky's relationship before and after Barbara's kidnapping by Area 49B
Relationships: Blinky/Barbara Lake
Series: Into the Pieces-Verse [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1477766
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	Cider

**Author's Note:**

> *for reference, the first half takes place before Barbara was kidnapped (above the break), and the second half, afterwards

Carefully, Blinky pours cider into two mugs.He checks the carton label yet again to ensure the beverage really is nonalcoholic.He already knows this, but his anxieties won out against the logical part of his mind in this particular matter a while ago and he’s given up arguing with himself over it.

Blinky carries the drinks into the other room, where Barbara waits curled up under a blanket on the couch.She looks up and smiles at him as he approaches.When he reaches her, she puts her book aside and takes the mug he offers.

Barbara sips her drink.“Mhmm, that’s good.”She puts her mug down on the coffee table.“I’ve been thinking,” she continues as he sits down beside her.“We should probably start telling people soon.”She snuggles up against him.

“About the baby?”Blinky wraps his arms protectively around Barbara.He presses his lips to the top of her head in a soft kiss.“Don’t you think it’s a little earlier?”He murmurs against her hair.

“People will start figuring it out on their own soon, Blink.”Barbara turns her head up to face him.“Trust me, I’m only going to get bigger and rounder.”She settles against his chest.“I won’t be able to hide it under large sweaters forever,” she tells him without looking at him.

“I know.I just hoped we’d have a little more time.”Blinky strokes her hair.“Call me selfish, but I don’t particularly want to share you, either of you, with the world just yet.”He gently tightens his embrace around her. 

Barbara means the world to him.The fact that their little family is growing in size means the world to him.A part of Blinky wants things to stay like this, just her and him snuggling together safely indoors from the chill of an autumn sunset, forever.

“How about this; we tell everyone at the big thanksgiving feast in two weeks?They’ll all be together, so we only have to do it once and we can have a few extra weeks of it just being us in the know until then,” Barbara proposes.

“Hmm.”Blinky considers.“Yes, I do believe that could work.”He drinks some of his cider.He’s nervous, of course, for what’ll mean to tell the world of what is likely the first troll-human hybrid, but there’s also no one he’d rather share this experience with than Barbara.

* * *

Blinky keeps a watchful eye on Barbara throughout the evening of their first holiday party after their reunion.She’s improved tremendously over time, but he still worries.Big groups, he knows, make her jittery.Even when she knows everyone there, he can see her tense with anxiety, with fear of unknown dangers.

A part of him aches to lock her away, someplace far away from everyone and everything, where she will forever be safe, but he knows that’s not right too.That’s too much like her life at Area 49B.She hasn’t told him much yet about those years yet.Just enough to know that what happened during them changed her in ways that make his gut twist uncomfortably.

“Hi,” Barbara approaches Blinky with a tentative smile.She holds out a mug.“I thought you’d like some cider?”The unspoken question in her eyes;_ you still like it, right?That hasn’t, like so many other things, changed?_

Blinky takes the offered beverage.“Of course, thank you.”He sips in a way that’s probably over exaggerated but meant to show his gratitude.

They fall into a somewhat uncomfortable silence.

Barbara shifts her weight from foot to foot.“So, um, Jim showed Arthur how to frost sugar cookies earlier, would you like to see them?” she asks hesitantly.

“Yes, I most certainly would!”Blinky winces.He sounds too enthusiastic, too eager, doesn’t he?He wants to show her he’s _there_.To show her she can lean on him for support.For whatever she needs.Anything.It doesn’t matter what.

She can let him _in._

He longs for her to let him in like she used to.

Later, deep into the night, when everyone else has long since fallen asleep, Blinky hears Barbara tiptoe across the floorboards and slip under the covers with him.He holds his breath as she reaches out for him.He exhales and wraps himself gently around her like he used to when she snuggles up against him.His heart flutters when he hears her let out a contentedly sigh against the crook of his neck.

Blinky kisses the top of Barbara’s head and waits for her to drift off to sleep before doing so himself.


End file.
